rm21

Due to the broken axle on my GT3, I had to bring my Cayman out of retirement for a track event at Barber this weekend. I hadn’t driven the Cayman on the track for nearly two years. Here are some impressions.
This was a Rezoom event with open passing in the advanced group. Tons of black flags the first day, so I hardly got any track time, but it was better this morning. The open passing was a blessing, since many of the Corvette drivers don’t seem to give the Cayman much respect. Open passing made that mostly irrelevant!

It took a few sessions to get reacquainted with the car. The biggest differences were a lot more body roll and not being able to make up for your mistakes with a simple application of the throttle. But once I got used to it, it was a lot of fun. My laps times were around 5 seconds higher, which is about what I expected (high 1:42s vs. high 1:37s). I’ve included an AIM screen shot to show where I picked up the time. My GT3 is pretty dialed in, and the Cayman was originally an S but is probably more like a 981 GTS at this point. It has RE71R 245/285 tires, Cargraphic headers, an IPD plenum/TB and a BGB 981 GTS ECU flash, which I had them do at the track. If I was going to continue tracking it, I’d probably change the swaybars and move to coilovers. My dream is still for Porsche to release a GT3 or RS engine in the 981 platform. That would be an awesome vehicle.

Jimmy-D

Try a GT4- it may surprise you

rm21

GT4 is great, just not great enough for me to give up my GT3. 😀

fxz

CompaWhat?

allans

Rich, How would you you rate the RE71 Vs. SC2 Vs. Trofeo tires. Thanks, Allan

rm21

Hard to say since I haven't run them on the same car. The RE71R is a great tire and a good set of compromises. Easy to manage pressures, good grip and wear seems good, although I would need more days to say for sure. The SC2s seem similar. The Trofeos are the most finicky, but if I had to run a fast lap I would pick them over the other two options. However, they aren't great in the rain, and their pressures fluctuate a lot more than the other two tires.

allans

Thanks Rich. Allan

rm21

Since I might be using my Cayman for a bit, I removed my Smartycam setup from my GT3 and put it in my Cayman. Had great conditions at Road Atlanta this past weekend. Was running ~ 5 seconds off my GT3 pace, which was mostly due to speeds on the straights, where the Cayman felt soo slow. Changing cars is a great learning experience. It made me realize how much more speed I can probably be carrying with the GT3. You clearly have to drive the Cayman as a momentum car, and since my brakes were wearing out, I tried to use them as little as possible! Turn-in is much better in the Cayman and I had to get used to that as well as throttle steering a lot more. The RE71R tires performed great, wore evenly, and had plenty left after 4 track days. Better to be on track rather than at home, but boy do I miss my GT3.

Kobalt

+1
I notice the same thing going from GT3 to Cayman (987.2S). Driving the Cayman is really fun because I really must do the right thing to be fast - it is easy to get lazy in the GT3.
Jumping between cars improves the skill in both cars. This is kind of weird but it seems to be true.

Spyerx

Try being lazy in a 997 GT3. :-)

I think some more seat time in the cayman you close the gap. Carry more corner momentum!

USCtrojan is doing the opposite, 1.5 years of mid engine and now playing with the 911.

Kobalt

:-)

BTW
Took out my 997 GT3 for 7 laps at the Ring after doing about 140 laps in the 991 RS (none in the 997) and for sure, I drove the 997 faster now thanks to the 991, so it might even work the other way around too. (Going from faster to slower car).